Osama Bin Laden is dead, Obama warns of retaliation attacks (video)

By IBT Staff Reporter On 05/02/11 AT 8:34 AM

U.S. President Barack Obama has warned Americans worldwide to brace for a retaliation from terrorist organizations after news broke out that Osama Bin Laden, one of the world's most dreaded terrorists, was early on Monday in a U.S. targeted operation carried out by CIA agents and U.S. military forces in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

The U.S. forces stormed a multi-million dollar mansion and shot dead Bin Laden's two sons, two couriers, a woman believed to be Bin Laden's human shield and the terrorist himself. Two other women were injured in the attack.

Bin Laden was shot in his head during a firefight and died almost immediately. A CIA agent said the U.S. forces took possession of Bin laden's body and buried it at sea, according to Islamic practice of a burial within 24 hours and to prevent any grave becoming a shrine.

Obama said it was victory for the U.S. forces as Bin Laden was believed to be the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks and a number of others. Bin Laden also topped FBI's 'Most Wanted' list and carried a $25 million bounty on his head.

The U.S. president said they had kept a watch on Bin Laden's mansion for several months before planning the attack. The mansion had 12ft-18ft walls and was eight times larger than other homes in the area. Surprisingly, it had no telephone or internet connection.

I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located Bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan, Obama said.

And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorised an operation to get Osama Bin Laden and bring him to justice, the president said, adding that no Americans were harmed during the operation.

A senior U.S. official said the operation was successful as no intelligence was shared with any country, including Pakistan, ahead of the raid. Only a very small group of people inside our own government knew of this operation in advance, the official said.

A White House official said Bin Laden's probable successor could be his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri. However, al-Zawahiri was does not command as much respect within the organization as Bin Laden did, he said.

The news of death of Bin Laden triggered shouts of joy in the United States and elsewhere. Muslims and Arab-Americans worldwide celebrated the news of Bin Laden's death as many believed that he was a patron of terrorists and had hurt Muslims more than any other religious groups due to 9/11 attack.

It is so comforting to see justice being served while the families of the thousands of his victims rejoice, said Imam Hassan Al-Qazwini, head of the Islamic Center of America in Dearborn, Mich., the largest mosque in a city with the highest concentration of Arab-Americans in the country.

Meanwhile, Obama has alerted U.S. embassies around the world, warning Americans of the possibility of al-Qaeda reprisal attacks for Bin Laden's killing. A nuclear attack has not been ruled out, though it is improbable.

A Taliban spokesman in Pakistan said they would carry out revenge attacks against American and Pakistani governments and their security forces.

An al Qaeda operative said the war against America is far from over their jihads against the United States would continue.